1953 Bentley B Special Speed 8 - B Special 'Blue Train' Recreation

To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION at RM Sothebys' The London Auction event, 31 October 2026.

Compelling ‘Blue Train’ recreation crafted by UK-based specialist Racing Green

Built around a Bentley R-Type Saloon chassis; fitted with the higher-performance 6.5-litre B81 straight-eight engine option and a desirable automatic transmission

Impressive specification includes three integrated drinks cabinets and fitted tool kit

Supplied with a folder documenting the build process through to August 2025 delivery

Offered by the commissioning owner

Chassis number B162UM started life in 1953 as a Bentley R-Type Saloon, a platform largely based on the outgoing Mark VI. Just 2,323 examples were built between 1952 and 1955. The car, per factory data card copies, was delivered new in Paris to Baronne de la Rochette wearing two-tone Masons Black and Tudor Grey paintwork over Fawn hide. Recorded to be in French ownership from at least 1995, the car was purchased by the consigning owner in October 2023. Holding a clear appreciation for world-class engineering and British classics, they submitted it to Racing Green Engineering in South Wales for a total reinvention.

Specialising in “automotive nostalgia”, Racing Green was tasked with transforming chassis B162UM into a stunning recreation of what has become known as the Bentley ‘Blue Train’. Famously, then Bentley chairman Woolf Barnato drove through the night from Cannes to London in a four-door Speed Six Weymann saloon to beat the Le Train Bleu. However, thanks to being immortalised in Terence Cuneo’s painting, the car more often associated with this legendary feat is the svelte three-seater coupé styled by Gurney Nutting. While that machine would indeed become another personal car of Barnato’s, he didn’t take delivery of the grand tourer until weeks after the dates of the Le Train Bleu race.

But with the Gurney Nutting coupé now firmly entrenched in automotive folklore, chassis B162UM was painstakingly rebodied in aluminium to resemble its striking proportions. As part of the overhaul, the original straight-six engine was replaced by a B81 straight-eight, the higher-performance offering from Racing Green. Displacing 6,516 cc, it is mated to a Bentley Turbo-sourced three-speed automatic transmission. The vendor, who commissioned the project, further requested the installation of heated seats, Nickel-rimmed headlights, under-bonnet LED lighting, a boot-mounted tool kit, and no fewer than three integrated drinks cabinets (one for sparkling wine, one for flat wine, and another for spirits).

The entire recreation process documented in an accompanying build folder, chassis B162UM was completed in August 2025 with Green coachwork over a Light Tan leather interior featuring burr walnut trim. The vendor is quick to praise how easily the Bentley is to operate, thanks to its torquey engine, automatic transmission, and disc brakes that make light work of long-distance drives and modern traffic.

Fittingly offered for sale at RM Sotheby’s London Auction—held in partnership with the Royal Automobile Club, whose Pall Mall headquarters was Barnato’s destination on 13 March 1930—this show-stopping Bentley B Special ‘Blue Train' Recreation would make for a magnificent addition to any collection of vintage automobiles.

Please note this lot has entered the UK on a temporary import bond, which must be cancelled either by exporting the lot outside of the UK on an approved Bill of Lading with supporting customs documentation or by paying the applicable VAT and import duties to have the lot remain in the UK.

To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/auctions/lf26/.